High Noon
by Flame Within Ice
Summary: The Volturi are trying to take over North America. Edward and Bella have stumbled upon a strange new people, the Verevires. Stephen and Vladimir are bent on their revenge. The sun blazes down on Antior, the only town of vampires. A great battle is coming.
1. Chapter 1: The Plot

High Noon

A sequel to Breaking Dawn

1. The Plot

Aro, Caius, and Marcus sat in a triangle, discussing there troubles. Caius started a speech about the Children of the Moon, but cut it short when Marcus pretended to doze off.

"We have a new member. Her name's Sami. She can teleport!" Aro said, then changed the subject.

"Listen, now! The plot is going good. The guard has mapped Forks and what areas we should hit first. …..here's the plan…"

Far away, in Volterra, Aro talked about the plot, Caius thought about werewolves, and Marcus looked bored, which was pretty much whatever he did normally. In Romania, Stefan and Vladimir thought about sweet, sweet, revenge.

I maneuvered my car through the streets of Forks, Renesmee in the backseat. I thought worriedly about the Volturi. Even though it hadn't come to a fight (much to the Romanian's disappointment), they still might decide they didn't want to deal with the shape shifters and the Cullen family after all, and attack. As I turned into Charlie's driveway, I smelled something burning. And by the sounds of dismay coming from the kitchen, Charlie had attempted to fix lunch himself and failed.

Charlie came running out the front door, waving frantically at the smoke around his face with one hand, a blackened spoon in the other.

"Hey Bells," he coughed, eyes watering, "I tried to fix you lunch, but……"

"It's alright Dad, I already ate!" I mentally added drank as my throat burned slightly.

"Okay Dad, may as well get this over with," I sighed, "get your fishing gear." Renesmee, who'd climbed out of the car after me, squealed with delight. Somehow, the hate for fishing had skipped her completely.

Completely unable to fathom it, I watched Charlie hurry into the car, piled high with fishing gear. Putting the car, into reverse, I drove back to my new home near the river.


	2. Chapter 2: The Fishing Incident

High Noon

Chapter 2: The Fishing Incident

Charlie and I drove down to the river in my Ferrari, Renesmee happily carrying her junior fishing rod. As Charlie and Renesmee set up their gear in a nice spot for fish, I headed farther down the river.

Once out of sight of Charlie and Renesmee, I scanned the water. The fish smelled nice. With lightning speed, I grabbed one straight out of the water, and then set to sucking the blood out as happily as a kid with a Popsicle.

I heard Renesmee's shriek of delighted laughter as a floppy fish jumped off the hook and onto the ground.

"Hey Bells, come here and look at this one, before it makes a break for it!" Charlie called over his shoulder toward me.

"In a minute, Dad, I want to look around!" I yelled back. And I _did._ I smelled something else, something not fishy….Another vampire. It was walking slowly, preferring to stalk its prey the old-fashioned way. And it was headed for Charlie and Renesmee.

I ran around the corner, where Charlie and Renesmee still sat, unaware of the danger. Picking up speed (just enough to seem slightly inhuman), and scooped both of them back towards the car. I heard the other vampire start running a little faster than me. Forgetting about Charlie, I lifted them both into my arms and ran to the car.

When we reached the car, I flung open the door, pushed Charlie and Renesmee inside (and heard Charlie mutter under his breath, "Strictly need to know, Charlie. Need to know."). I pulled into the driver's side and stomped the gas pedal just enough to be going the posted speed limit.

When I looked in the rearview mirror, I saw a tall, red-haired vampire, her red tresses pulled back in a smooth side ponytail. Her eyes glittered at me, and as I watched, the vampire vanished. Just like that. She didn't run away. She just vanished.

That phrase echoed through my head again and again…_She just vanished. She just vanished. She just VANISHED._ But not fast enough for me to miss her black cloak.


	3. Chapter 3: Vision

Chapter Three: Vision

After Charlie was dropped off safely at his house, I high-tailed it to the Cullens'. Alice and Edward were waiting out front, so I didn't think I had to tell them what had happened. I unbuckled Renesmee, and she skipped up to Alice and showed her, in detail, what I had done. Edward's frown seemed to get bigger every time I blinked.

"I just don't understand it," he said, "why would a Volturi be here, after we settled all that last month?" I held up my hands in mock surrender.

"Search me," I replied. Edward groaned.

"Now isn't the time for jokes, Bella. We need to know why the Volturi are sending people over here that can vanish just like that!" Edward snapped his fingers to mimic the vampire I had seen vanishing.

"Maybe they want to use Forks as an operating base," I suggested. This stopped Edward, and he thought about it for several milliseconds.

"It's a possibility," he said slowly, "but why would they want to deal with the shapeshifters and your superior shielding skill?" he frowned again.

"Maybe they _don't_ want to deal with the shapeshifters…" Alice said. Edward and I turned to look at her.

"I had a vision," she explained, "They plan to go for Charlie." Before I could react, Alice had held up a hand.

"We can't send you to get them out of the country. You'd want to get Charlie somewhere safe and sound, and stay thee with him and Edward. We can't let you do that," I started to say something, but Alice stopped me again.

"They want to get you away, where your shield can't protect us. Then they can easily make a move on the shapeshifters. Aro, Caius, and Marcus plan to come, too, so we need to find all of their weaknesses…" Alice trailed off. I immediately thought of something.

"The Children of the Moon," I said, "Caius has had problems with them in the past. If we can…control…them, then we have Caius' weakness!" I explained. Alice and Edward exchanged glances, and then Edward looked at me.

"You know…that just might work…"


	4. Chapter 4: Capture

Chapter Four: Capture

I peered through the trees, scenting the air while trying to catch sight of anything moving. Right before I saw her, there was a crackling, popping sound, not unlike that of lightning threatening to strike nearby. Then, the red-haired vampire materialized out of thin air, black cloak flowing and billowing about her. I had successfully masked by vampire scent with that of a rotting bear carcass, and my nose was slightly curled to keep the vile stench out. Luckily, the vampire immediately wrinkled her nose in disgust and whirled around, walking the other direction. I followed her cautiously. She paced around the woods, in a big circle that contained the cottage and the Cullen's house. Then, stopping by the river where the incident had occurred, there was that crackling sound, then she vanished.

"So, we believe that this Volturi member can vanish and materialize, seemingly out of thin air," Jake asked yet again, just to be sure. I gave a nod. Carlisle had a look of intense concentration. I could practically hear gears in his hightened vampire brain grinding away. I imagined his gears purring like the engine in my Ferrari. Finally Carlisle's brain stopped whirring like a Ferris wheel kicked into hyper-drive, and a thoughtful look came over his face.

"I believe that maybe one of the pack could possibly make contact with the Children of the Moon," he said slowly, "it would take some convincing, but maybe one of the pack could get a real werewolf pack to agree to come over here and fight. And, of course, we'd need the pack to control them every full moon, if it comes to that." Jake looked very interested at this. Holding up a hand for silence as everyone gathered began talking excitedly, Carlisle looked at Jake, who was about to speak.

"First, we need to capture that vampire guard," and everyone agreed with him.

Sami sniffed the air, confused by the rotting smell. Was there a sickness going through the animal's here? Was something going wrong with her teleportation? Maybe she should go back immediately...

Sami looked up and shrieked as the three vampires dropped silently onto her from the tree branches.

Edward, Emmett, and Jasper came through the door, dragging the slightly disheveled Volturi between them. Carlisle looked pleased, and immediately began bombarding the vampire with questions faster than an automatic machine gun.

"What is your name?" was the first round fired.

"Sami," the red-haired vampire replied.

"And you are new to the Volturi?"

"Yes," Sami said stiffly.

"Then tell us...what are they planning?" Carlisle left a ringing silence with the authority summoned into his soft voice. Sami looked slightly frightened. It was also clear that she was no great secret-keeper for the Volturi, because she willingly obliged to this question.

"The Volturi want to...use your house as...an operating base...to...t-take over the...w-world. They...want to kill...all...of you...Cullens...they...they've...they have gone...evil...I-I joined them because...I thought they...were the...good...ones...but...now they just want...p-power...They want...another city...built...for them...where Forks...once stood..." she faltered at the last phrase.

"What do you mean, 'where Forks _once_ stood?" I asked curiously, not entirely sure I really wanted to know the answer. Sami's grew paler, if that were possible, stuttering on every word now. That meant she was terribly afraid, for vampires did not stutter.

"D-Drahe, h-he's n-new, h-he c-can...m-make t-things...e-explode..." Sami, if she could, would have fainted. Carlisle looked alarmed.

"When do they send in people to...kill...my father?" I cut in. Sami looked relieved that I had changed the subject from plans of world domination.

"T-tonight." I stared, numb with horror. It was only an hour before the sun set. And the Volturi were coming at dark.


	5. Chapter 5: Double

Chapter Five: Double

Going on the 'need to know' basis, we got Charlie hidden inside the house, then we carried him about to spread his scent around and confuse the Volturi. Finally, Jake, with some expert make-up artistry done by Alice, became an exact double of Charlie and climbed into his bed. The real Charlie was safely hidden in an upstairs hall closet. Seeing as Charlie's bed was downstairs, the Volturi would never expect him to be in an upstairs hall closet. I, of course, was worried about Jake. He assured me that the second the Volturi were close enough, he would transform and attack, taking them by surprise.

Sami had vanished back to Volterra, after telling Edward that they were sending only one Volturi member to dispatch of the human. I gave her strict instructions to tell the Volturi that I was gone, off visiting Renee in Jacksonville, and that if Sami didn't carry out the instructions, I would know. I did not tell her that I had absolutely no way of knowing if she had told or not until it was too late.

Far away, in Romania, Stephen and Vladimir were roaming the countryside, building an army. It turns out that there were actually quite a lot of Romanian vampires left, and all hated the way the Volturi had recently gone. Pisa was in Volturi control.

"Formation!" Vladimir barked at his assembled army of Romanians. The army immediately formed up into two identical "V" shapes, not unlike two flocks of geese flying side by side.

"March!" Stephen ordered, and the army began to march silently, making only a slight _wisp wisp wisp_ sound as they brushed against cloaks, marching in place. Stephen and Vladimir were satisfied with this performance.

"Now, we can prepare our takeover of Volterra, and reestablish the ancient laws governing vampires that the Volturi are brushing aside in ignorance due to their greed for power!" Vladimir shouted. The deserted countryside of Pompeii at night was filled with the battle cry of 1,000 Romanian vampires.

"Jussssstiiiceeeee!"

Back in Forks, the Volturi's newest member, Dyipthier, polished the blade of his dagger. It could be easily concealed up a sleeve, and its greatest attribute? It could kill. Dyipthier was one with weapons. Give him a new sword, and he could deftly pull out a human's heart without disturbing the outer body.  
Now the assassin vampire crept through the silent house. Charlie must have been here recently. The smell was overwhelming. Plus, there was a horrid stench of dog. Did this human have a dog? Dyipthier did not like dogs. Too much like wolves and Children of the Moon.

Creeping silently into Charlie's bedroom, Dyipthier paused. The dog smell was stronger here, yet there was the human, snoring quite obnoxiously in the bed. But where was the dog?

Dyipthier let out a yell as Jacob Black leaped out of the bed, the exact double of Charlie. Except that he had transformed into a big red wolf. Dyipthier stumbled over his feet in his rush to escape. Getting over the shock, he ran full speed out of the house, and did not stop until he had crossed an ocean and was safely back in Volterra. The full moon shone brightly over Forks as Jacob and Charlie had a great laugh when Charlie was told how the 'burglar' had hightailed it out of there after seeing him transform. I frowned at them.

"You do realize that he's still alive, right?" I queried. Jake nodded, then laughed again.

"I doubt that one'll be coming back anytime soon, though!" That, I had to agree with. For now, Charlie was safe.


	6. Chapter 6: Unwelcome Arrivals

Chapter Six: Unwelcome Arrivals

I breathed a sigh of relief. After the assassin vampire had left, we had seen no sign of him or the teleporting vampire. I clung to Edward and Nessie's side for a while, constantly watching the forest for any signs of vampire activity. Several days passed, and I thought maybe the Volturi were starting their invasion farther north.

Edward and I ran straight into Canada, and rooted around the mountains until we found a scent. Not just A scent. A LOT of scents. They were fresh, Volturi, and I could smell Jane, Aro, Caius, Marcus, their wives, and a lot of others whose names I didn't know and didn't particularly WANT to know. There was just one problem. All of the Volturi, it seemed, was heading south. In a direct route for Forks.  
Edward and I exchanged glances. THAT sure wasn't good. We had to somehow delay the Volturi until we could get help. That help might come from Transylvania...

We popped over a hill, and there, spread out before us, was the entire Volturi army. Yikes. Big. Giant hay wagons were rolling into the clearing, packed with regular humans who were snapping photos and chatting animatedly about the scenic countryside. I felt that I would probably be sick if I were human. I had a pretty good idea of what would happen to those humans. I couldn't just stand there. I had to do SOMETHING.

"HEY, YOU!!!" I shouted. It sounded dumb even as I said it, and I mentally agreed to myself never to do that again. If I got out of this alive. Which I probably wouldn't. The entire Volturi turned and looked up the hill at me. Aro shouted something, and the vampires began to walk leisurely, almost casually closer in our direction.

"Time to go," I said to Edward from the corner of my mouth. "Time to go," Edward agreed. We ran north. And just to prove how stupid the Volturi were in their anger and shock, the entire squad followed us. Not one was left behind.


	7. Chapter 7: Unexpected Ally

Chapter Seven: Unexpected Ally

"They are NOT that dumb..." Edward said in disbelief. "Not a single one..._not a SINGLE one left behind to guard their...dinner!"_ He ended weakly. The entire Volturi was coming after them, and they did not look happy. Marcus...just looked bored. Caius and Aro, however, were seething.

"They're starting to RUN!" I emphasized. Edward looked some more at the rapidly growing figures. "Hrm. That could be a problem. Let's run faster," Edward noted. "No kidding," I agreed. We continued north, and the Volturi chased every step of the way into Alaska.  
I looked around at the snowy landscape.

"Should we get the Denali clan?" I asked. Edward shook his head.

"Would they be much help against a thousand REALLY angry Volturi?" he queried. I sighed. "Good poi--" I was cut off as I gaped in disbelief. We were very far north, right next to the Bering Sea, or more closer to the Arctic Sea, and there was a wolf--mind you, it was a giant, hairy, gray, red-eyed, slobber-mouthed, three-foot-fanged one, but still, a WOLF--swimming over to the shore. It wasn't in a particular hurry to get anywhere, I supposed, seeing as it was taking its sweet time climbing out, shaking itself, and licking pieces of ice off of it, but just as the Volturi were within exchanging-name distance, they screeched to a halt, and Caius was suddenly AFRAID. He shrieked aloud, at an octave unknown even to an opera singer.

"I'm thinking," Edward said in a low voice, "that THAT is a REAL werewolf..." He trailed off. Caius looked positively sick, and was now making the entire Volturi army back away slowly.

"Stay back, don't make any sudden movements," he said, his voice still several octaves higher than it should be, "it won't hurt you if you get far enough away from it!" He said, more to himself than to the Volturi, who, after the initial scream, were now brushing lint off their shoulders and yawning as if they were tired of the whole thing. They still backed up, because Caius was glaring at them all with the expression of a madman. And a madman that is a vampire is not a pretty sight, and a dangerous one at that. Aro laid a hand on Caius's shoulder, and briefly expressed surprise and...fear. Caius shook him off and bared his teeth at him, which made even Marcus take in a sharp breath, more for dramatic effect then for actual breathing purposes.

"Caius...?" Marcus asked tentavely, as if the question might earn HIM a teethbare. Caius shot him a glare. Marcus did the equivalent a flinch, except it was voluntary.

"Children of the Moon!!!!" Caius hissed at Marcus in answer to the flinch.

"Oh. Right," Marcus said, automatically bored. Aro glanced at the werewolf. It was smiling at everyone quite happily, and stood up on its hind legs to get a better view of the Volturi. Disappointed that there were too many to make a meal, probably, the werewolf settled onto its haunches and looked around thoughtfully. Aro shot it a rather dismissive glance. The night was almost over, anyway. It would be human soon. But there was still about an hour of moonlight left.

"Let's leave the werewolf to its dinner and head back to ours," Aro said dismissively, then glared at Marcus. "If it's still THERE!" The VOlturi left hurriedly, zooming out of sight, back to their camp somewhere in Canada.

Meanwhile, Edward and I were having a staring contest with the werewolf. This, surprisingly, went on the whole hour of moonlight, until finally the full moon disappeared from the sky, the werewolf blinked, and transformed rather painfully back to a human. The human was, however, NOT human.

"How did that work?" Edward asked the vampire. The vampire liesurely tried to pull the tattered clothes he wore into some semblance of normality.

"Got bit by a vampire first," he grinned. "Then a werewolf. Surprisingly, it didn't cancel out," the vampire/werewolf combo shrugged. I took the time to look at the vampire/werewolf while we stood around, thinking of something to do. He was tall, maybe around 16, with ruffled black hair and dark amber eyes, proving that he drank only the blood of animals.

"Volturi getting a little too big for their city, eh? Glad to help," he said, eyes sparkling as he attempted to flatten the wild hair that grew on his head and had apparently never been tamed with a comb, brush, or shower, for that matter. Edward looked slightly confused, and the vampire/werewolf explained.

"I can tell what tensions are going on in the world, and who they're between. So, naturally, I see the tension between vampires and werewolves, and you and the Volturi. My name's Flamiel, by the way. Romanian vampire," he added. Then he looked at the sky, which was beginning to pale.

"I call my kind a Verevire."


	8. Chapter 8: Volterra Unguarded?

Chapter Eight: Volterra Unguarded?

Vladimir ran in front, as the Romanian army marched silently on Volterra. Hunting had been done beforehand, and now every vampire was stonily staring straight ahead, legs keeping perfect time with all the others. A couple vampires were exchanging grins. The cover of night was cloudy, and there came a spot where the woods were flooded with moonlight. The grinning vampires peered closely into the shadows. Some very cheeky-looking red eyes peered back at them.

After a while, the Romanians were stopped by Vladimir. He had noticed the red eyes. The Children of the Moon didn't come this far away from Romania...did they? Vladimir slowly stepped toward one of the eyes.

"Show yourself," He said loudly. The eyes winked out, and something rustled in the undergrowth. A giant tawny wolf prowled into the light, red eyes watching the Romanians closely. Vladimir blinked. These were different than the Children of the Moon. They seemed more...controlled.

"Grrrrr..." the wolf said softly. Vladimir suddenly realized it was speaking guttural words.

"Grrol. Myh nhame is Grrol," the tawny wolf said, settling onto its haunches. Vladimir stared at Grol. Grol stared straight back. The giant fangs gave him the look of a saber-toothed tiger.

"What are you?" Vladimir said nervously, for that wasn't a good question to ask someone that could tear vampires apart in a heartbeat. Grol sniffed and gestured at the woods. One by one, six other giant wolves, in different colors, came and sat by his side.

"We are Verevires," Grol said simply, "we hafve chome to help you take Volterrah. These arre Scrag and Snarl, the mohst ehxcellehnt trahckers in Rrromania," Grol said, gesturing to two lean wolves that were red with tinges of black around their paws and muzzle. They snapped to attention in record time..._as fast as a vampire..._Vladimir raised an eyebrow at this, but Scrag and Snarl raised their noses simultaneously and plummeted to the ground, sniffing hard.

"Where are they going?" Vladimir asked. Grol raised the hair on the back of his neck in answer. Vladimir took off running after the two trackers, and all three of them came face to face with another vampire, who was dripping wet and carrying a nasty-looking dagger.

"Who are you?" he snarled at Vladimir.

"Who are _you?_" Vladimir answered, equally unfriendly.

"I am Dyipthier, member of the Volturi! What are you doing here, Romanian?" the other vampire questioned. Vladimir backed up a step.

"Where's the rest of the Volturi?" he asked cautiously, expecting Jane or someone to pop out from behind a tree any second.

"Gone. I just swam across the river, and scouted almost into _your_ lands, but I cannot find them. Nowhere. Gone," Dyipthier straggled off into the woods, muttering to himself.

Vladimir zipped back to his army.

"Good news!" he nearly shouted. The entire army stared eagerly at him.

"Volterra is undefended."

If some unfortunate little human had chosen that moment to go for a moonlit walk, they would have been mowed down, trampled, pounded into the dust, and gone deaf when they met the HIGHLY excited Romanian army.


	9. Chapter 9: Preparations

**My muse has gone Ppptthhbbt! But it is coming back! I am going to make an effort to finish this story, along with my others of course!**

The Romanians were, to say the least, excited. As they stampeded through the woods at dangerous speeds, a couple Verevires bounded along ahead, not nearly as loud.

Stephen and Vladimir headed the charge. The city of Volterra was visible in the distance, its lights glowing softly. Vladimir got the army to stop for a little bit, and they all became sudden masters of stealth.

"Ok, so first thing, we creep around the Volturi's tower, destroy any Volturi we find, and then station guards in the tower for a lookout of returning Volturi. Next, we spread the army out over the surrounding forest, stationed in trees, and attack the Volturi as they come. The Verevires can help, too," Vladmir added with a glance at some red eyes glowing from the safety of the trees.

***

Flamiel the Verevire ran a hand through his hair, which made it stick up even more. Flamiel frowned, and attempted to flatten it again. I looked at Edward. He was slightly puzzled.

"Can't read his thoughts?" I guessed out of the corner of my mouth. Edward nodded slightly.

"So, now what?" Flamiel asked. A slow smile spread from the corners of my mouth.

"Now, we go round up some more vampires!" I glanced at Edward for approval. He seemed excited. He shook his head at me, and then added,

"Not just vampires. Verevires, too. How many of your kind are there?" he asked. Flamiel scooped up a handful of snow, and let it fall.

"As many as the flakes that fall from the sky. We are spread across the desolate regions of Siberia, Romania, and the Gobi Desert. I can swim the Bering Strait again and go get them," he flexed his hand, and for a brief moment it became a paw.

"How do you do that?" I wondered. Flamiel flexed his arm again, and this time the paw stayed.

"I can transform when I want to, as well as the mandatory transformation every full moon," he said simply, as if this was a common fact. Edward nodded.

"Ah. I see," he said, as if he understood completely. But I caught the puzzled expression again, a slight frown on his face.

"Well, I'll be going to gather my kind," Flamiel finished, and leaped into the air. When he came down again, he was the grey werewolf we had seen swimming earlier. He nodded once at us, and then leaped into the frigid water and struck out for Siberia.

Edward and I headed out to Georgia.


	10. Chapter 10: The Vampires Down in Georgia

**My muse is slowly rreturning! This story is close to the finish line!**

Chapter Ten: The Vampires Down in Georgia

Edward purchased two tickets on a private jet for us (how he managed that I'll didn't know until several hours later), and we set out for Georgia. The pilot and his co were the only other humans aboard, so I was safe in the thirst department. I relaxed slightly, trying to breathe as little as possible, firmly rooted in the belief that no harm would come to the humans. Part of that was because I didn't want to ruin my perfect record, and part of that was because I wasn't quite sure whether or not Edward knew how to fly a plane.

We touched down in the hot, sunny peach-growing-people land of a random little farm somewhere in Georgia. Apparently, the pilot had relatives here, and was going to visit them anyway, and, according to Edward, most humans can't say no to a wad of Bejamins staring them in the face.

"Thanks," Edward told the pilot, pushing another insane amount of money into the pilot's hand. The pilot cheerfully tipped his cap and waited patiently as we got off. After this we walked off down the dusty road towards an abandoned town that Edward was certain was a place we could find some Southern vampires.

Edward poked his head inside a broken window. The place used to be a general store, but the funny thing was...it only looked as if someone had just left it. Everthing was neat and polished. The counter was clean, but there was no cash register. Nothing on the shelves had a price. And the things on the shelves was normal human food and bolts of cloth and other such things, but a smell arose from behind a rack of candy packages that made my throat burn.

I looked quickly at Edward. He did not seem surprised at this.

"It's a vampire general store, I think. Out in ghost towns, they come in and clean up the place, and then have stores of blood hidden behind shelves. There's also some other things hidden, too, behind all this...food..." Edward gestured randomly at a shelf on which boxes of chocolates were neatly laid out.

"Why do they have all this food here, if this is a ghost town?" I asked, but I was fairly certain that I knew the answer.

"I think you know, Bella. People come out here, looking around, maybe looking for leftover money in the banks...and then they come in the general store. They see the food, are attracted inside, and..." Edward trailed off, then added, "There's usually at least one hiding somewhere where other scents will cover it up."

I looked suspiciously at a display of perfume and scented moisturizer. I sniffed delicately, inhaling the flowery smells. There was also a tinge of something. Something that smelled like blood left out on a pine counter in humid weather. And a scent that was similar to Edward, not enticingly sweet, but familiar.

"Hello," Edward said conversationally, apparently addressing a box of moisturizer labeled, _Land of Canaan: Milk and Honey Scent. Limited time only! _The moisturizer, needless to say, did not respond.

"I know you're there. I can smell you," Edward continued, but still the limited edition moisturizer said nothing in reply. Something else, however, did.

"Who are you? Why do you have golden eyes?" It was a small, childish voice, and I flinched as I thought of Jane. But this wasn't cruel. It was genuinely curious.

From behind the perfume display, a small girl, possibly about the age of six, came out and stared at us. Edward stiffened slightly. He looked absolutely shocked.

"H-How...?" he whispered. The little girl smiled.

"Mommy and Daddy brought me here just last year," the little girl answered, as if that summed up everything. She had slightly red eyes, but they were more of a muddy, dark red color, so I assumed that she ate animals sometimes.

"I'm Jessica," the little girl continued. She went behind the counter and removed a small porcelain tea set from a shelf underneath.

"Want any?" Jessica turned her head to one side, and her golden ringlets of hair bobbed. She held the teapot up questioningly, and I could smell blood, but not human. Definitely animal.

"Sure," Edward smiled back, still slightly uneasy. "What kind is it?" he added. Jessica looked at something written on the bottom.

"Earl Grey Coyote," she replied. I nearly snorted with laughter, but held it in check.

We drank our "tea" in silence, and I felt quite refreshed after I had drained the rather large teacup. I randomly thought of how strange it was that the other times I had drank animal blood, it had not been a pretty sight, with my dress all in tatters and blood everywhere. Now I had just sipped it daintily from a teacup.

"Follow me, I'll take you to meet some townsfolk!" Jessica jumped down from where she had perched upon the counter, and attempted to drag Edward and I out the door singlehandedly. She managed to inch Edward a step forward, but I simply sat there, with a slightly bemused expression on my face.

"Townsfolk?" I asked. Edward also looked slightly baffled as he read Jessica's thoughts.

"There's a whole community of vampires living here!" he exclaimed. Jessica seemed momentarily startled, then nodded sagely.

"Ah. I see you have a special gift. I don't," she stopped her attempts to overpower us.

"Yes, a whole town of us. We live in the abandoned buildings, and a couple families live out on the desert. In the bank, we have the leader, his name is Sam, and then he has a couple advisors, I can't remember their names, though. I'm only just starting history in school..." Jessica chattered on as she led us out in the sunlight, where we could sparkle all we wanted to. It was lucky that a cloud had passed when we got off the plane, or else the pilot might have raised both eyebrows, and the police to top it off.

Edward glanced at me, and his expression said it all:

_These Southern vampires in Georgia sure aren't the warring covens from the old Southern wars! _

Nope, I agreed silently. These vampires had discovered how to make child vampires that could be tamed, and how to coexist peacefully with humans barely a mile away. They had established a school, apparently. I visioned what could happen if all vampires had towns like these. And what would happen when the Volturi found out. _If_ the Volturi found out, I corrected myself. They would claim these towns to be "too dangerous, too close to exposing the secret" and destroy them. Especially if they had control over North America. These towns would never be seen again if the Volturi were not quelled. I stared up at the sun, and the rainbow corona that its light made with my special vision. _Never will the Volturi take this from the world, _I vowed. _Not over my smoldering pyre!_


	11. Chapter 11: Antior will Fight!

**My muse is on a ROLL! YES! I may be able to finish this story! Hope you liked the last (really long for me) chapter!**

Flamiel shook the ice off his pelt and pounded over the snow. He howled at the rising sun, and almost immediately a howl answered back.

"Flamiel!" a golden-furred Verevire appeared at a hill of ice and bounded over, transforming swiftly into a tall vampire with blond hair. Flamiel transformed into his vampire form, and seemed distracted, as his hair popped out all over the place on his scalp, having never been tamed with such foreign words as "shampoo" and "brush". He patted it into what he decided was a dignified manner, and nodded at the other vampire.

"Dindalin. Glad to see you again!" Flamiel smiled. Dindalin grinned back and a gush of words spouted from his mouth.

"Flamiel! Where did you go? What were you thinking, swimming the Strait? Did you SEE that giant mass of people gathered near the shore?! Crazy!" Dindalin shook his head. Flamiel shrugged.

"They backed off the second they saw me. They were vampires, just normal ones. The Volturi, actually."

Dindalin's smile faltered.

"What? What is it?" Flamiel queried. Dindalin slowly shook his head sadly.

"The Volturi are...planning on...quelling...us...when they finish their business in America." Dindalin could tell what the Volturi were planning. Just the Volturi. This made him quite popular among the other Verevires, as all of them loathed the Volturi with every single bone in their body. This arose from the natural tension between vampires and werewolves.

Flamiel's eyes glittered like steel.

"Who said THEY are going to quell US?" he said softly. Dindalin's smile returned, a crafty one this time.

"I shall gather our kind, and some of the smarter werewolves, too." Dindalin transformed back to his wolf form and trekked over the bleak landscape. Flamiel was left with the company of a polar bear that regarded him suspiciously from the waterline. Last time it checked, wolves were wolves. Vampires were vampires. Its brain did not process that wolves could be vampires, too.

"Hello," Sam said. "Welcome to Antior, the only town of vampires. I see you have met one of the students at our school, Jessica," Sam was a tall vampire with tan skin (somehow his years of exposure to almost full sun over the years had made his skin tan), and his hair was a unique stained maple-wood color. He was the founder and leader of the town of vampires, Antior, and seemed very friendly.

"The Volturi are making trouble," Edward explained. Sam frowned.

"They are always trouble. What is so different now?"

"They are trying to take over North America. You know what will happen when they find you, correct?" Edward said steadily. Sam's face betrayed nothing.

"The Volturi do not bother us anymore," he said flatly. "They have sent their guards to quell us before. We have established a marble firepit just for the purpose," Sam finished. Edward replied in that perfectly steady voice,

"The entire Volturi is currently some miles north of the Canadian border."

Sam out his hand on Edward's and looked him straight in the eye.

"We will fight for freedom. We will fight for peace. We will fight for Antior, and for any more towns to come."


End file.
